Another Star Citizen Alpha update is breaching Live servers today, giving the crowd-funded in-development game a dose of new gameplay systems related to hospitals, player health, looting, inventory, as well as a couple of new ships. Alpha 3.15 comes with the name Deadly Consequences attached to it, catch the launch trailer above.
Cloud Imperium Games" biggest addition to the Star Citizen universe in this update is the medical gameplay, where players can now get downed instead of dying outright after an altercation. Other players can either revive or kill the downed player, and doing the latter means they get all the loot of the unfortunate player. Injuries can also happen to specific body parts now, affecting gameplay depending on the location, like dizziness for head and aim instability for limbs.
These wounds can be temporarily healed with the newly added suite of healing equipment, which players can use on themselves or others, enabling a medic-role for the first time. Respawning after death and curing critical injuries now happens inside Medbeds, a facility usually found in hospitals. To match, the developer has added clinics and hospital areas to multiple locations around the universe, from landing zones — Orison, GrimHex, New Babbage — to rest stops.
There is also a new inventory system allowing easier control of loadouts, carried loot, transfers between inventories as well as keep track of all owned items across the universe. As for new ships, the luxury vessel Origin 400i and the bomber Crusader Hercules Starlifter A2 land with 3.15 alongside new bombing mechanics. Dynamic loot generation is also in, letting curious players find pieces of location-specific loot inside crates, lockers, and boxes.
The patch notes for Star Citizen Alpha 3.15 update can be seen here. Meanwhile, with the upcoming Alpha 3.15.1 update, the studio plans to implement Easy Anti-Cheat. Cloud Imperium Games also announced recently it is planning to expand its UK operations with a new studio in Manchester next year, with an aim to create over 700 jobs in the area by 2023.